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‘Gap year’ is very popular in developed countries. The term ‘gap year’ roughly means that young people are not eager to blindly enter the society after entering school or graduating and before going to work. Instead, they take a break to take a long distance trip (usually one year) and take a period of time to put their feet down and do what they want to do.
During this time, you can go on a study tour, work as a volunteer, or just take a break to think about your life, which is different from short distance travel and not exactly the same as work travel. Interval means pause, which means to integrate into local life in a relaxed state for a long time.This gap year can help students further understand themselves and experience life through social practice. Gap year is a way to ‘gap’ the current social life, to better integrate into the current society. Alternative interpretations
There’s also a ‘Career break’ when someone who already has a job quits to take a Career break to recharge or use the time to do something else.In a word, whether the gap of students or gap of people with jobs, it is to jump out of the fixed life pattern temporarily, to experience a new life in another environment, to experience more to better understand ourselves, so that we can better meet the future
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History
Period of origin
In the ten years after the Second World War, governments of various countries began to promote youth travel and cultural exchanges, thus effectively promoting the consensus among all mankind to prevent the recurrence of world war. This is the origin of the concept of ‘gap year’. The first real ‘gap year’ began in England in the 1960s.
Pioneering period
In the 1970s, the call for ‘independent travel’ for freshmen continued. As a result, the pioneers of the independent travel market set up their careers.In 1973, Graham Turner, an Australian living in London and known as ‘screw’, drove a double-decker bus and spent three weeks with his first customer in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Top Deck travel company he founded still exists today.
Period of development
In Britain in the 1980s, baby boomers already had their children. They have reduced travel while the next generation is obsessed with money, career and wealth creation. The crisis in the housing market means that parents have less money to pay for their children’s travel. However, with STA Travel setting up branches all over the world, the gap year between Britain and the world is still progressing steadily. More businesses will follow
Prosperous times
After 2000, with the development of the Internet, gap year travel has been booming worldwide. In July 2005, Mint’s gap year report said that Britain’s overseas market profits could reach 2.2 billion pounds, while the global market figures reached 5 billion pounds. This is the fastest growing tourism sector in the new millennium. By 2010, 11 billion pounds will be gained from the global gap year market.
Activities
Work for lodging
This is a kind of vagrancy suitable for ‘gap year’ travelers. Youth hostels all over the country offer such programs. They can work in youth hostels all over the country and then get free food and lodging in exchange for basic living, which is both fair and cheap. After staying in one place for a period of time, you can also change to the next destination, which is quite free. Another emerging trend is to devote oneself to global education, including language teaching, living in local families, cultural dissemination, community service and independent learning. These practices exist in countries such as India, China, Morocco and Brazil.
Volunteer service
Being a volunteer is the choice of many ‘gap year’ vagrants. It is a way to experience the world and help others. At present, there are many non-governmental organizations engaged in public welfare around the world, and many have corresponding organizations and projects around the world. For example, the famous British volunteer organization Nationaltrust, the Voltra International Work Camp in Hong Kong, China, and the Conservation Volunteers Environmental Protection Volunteer Organization in Australia can send relevant resumes to these organizations in advance. It is better to have a certain educational background, such as language education, medicine, community service, etc., so as to be more easily accepted. Generally speaking, volunteers have to pay their own round-trip transportation expenses, but accommodation and catering can be solved by volunteer organizations.
Rental living
This is suitable for people with a certain economic foundation. Although I just graduated with a small fortune, the money I earned from working as a student and the living expenses I saved from my family are enough to start a vagrant ‘gap year.’ The wandering ‘gap year’ can be aimless at first, but it goes in a general direction, but it is likely that when you arrive at a place and find yourself in love with it, you don’t want to go for the time being, so rent a house and live the life of the local people. Many places have some single apartments or short-term rentals, which are chosen according to their financial ability. Because there is a certain amount of money, I don’t have to worry about living problems for the time being. I wander around this place every day, chatting with the local people, tasting the local delicacies and seeing the local scenery. I may get more from this than wandering on the road all the time.
Pros and Cons
- Have more time to organize your thoughts.
Students who have just finished high school may not have thought about what major they want to study in university or how to use university resources to achieve their long-term academic and professional goals. The gap year can give us time to catch our breath, refuel ourselves, explore more interests, etc. This year’s free time, whether it is used for internships, going abroad to experience exotic customs or serving as volunteers, may enable you to have a deeper understanding of yourself and a clearer plan for the future.
- Have more time to grow up.
Just graduated from high school, you may still be an ignorant teenager, and will soon leave home and go to college by yourself. The gap year will give you the opportunity to learn how to be a responsible adult and gain survival skills that you may not yet have. After the gap year is over, when you enter the university again, you will be better able to meet the academic challenges of the university, because the independent life during the gap year can make you more responsible.
- Do what you always want to do.
If the gap year is well planned, you will be free to explore your hobbies, get to know your heart, and bravely pursue those dreams delayed by high school studies. You can open a YouTube account to record your journey of challenging to climb the summit, write a novel that you have long conceived in your mind, and even join a local swimming team to take part in various competitions. If there are some things on your wish list that you have imagined for a long time but haven’t had time to do, then the gap year may be a good opportunity to do these
Example
Prince William
He may be a member of the royal family, but the second in line to the throne is no exception, tempted by a gap year — an impressive one! After completing their studies in the famous eton, duke of Cambridge, a gap year including: training with the welsh guards in Belize, dairy farm work in the UK, visit several charity in Africa, and participate in the volunteer project of southern Chile for 10 weeks, where he helped build a school, and will be teaching English as a foreign language. Prince William has learned a lot during his gap year…But unfortunately, he didn’t learn how to make porridge.
The Beatles
Before changing the face of music forever, the Beatles were a band of five young boys from Liverpool who covered songs by other artists and tried to make a name for themselves in the industry. Although technically more of a musical ‘apprentice’ than a formal gap year, the Beatles left England shortly after high school to pursue their interest in music in Hamburg, Germany. Hamburg’s early days proved crucial, as it was here that the Beatles refined their musical skills and adopted their trademark mop haircut.
